The Northwestern lacrosse team is set to begin its 2026 campaign in a little over three weeks against Boston College. Prior to this, the Wildcats unveiled their 16-match regular season calendar, featuring nine encounters at home and seven on the road. Inside NU analyzes this series of games and their significance for a Northwestern squad aiming for a 2026 national title played on their own field.
The opening game for Northwestern, scheduled for February 6 against the Golden Eagles, stands out as one of the season’s eagerly awaited events. Excluding their 2025 match against Notre Dame (a team that did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament), the Wildcats have consistently started their season over the past four years by facing a Final Four-level contender: Syracuse in both 2024 and 2023, and Boston College in 2022.
This encounter with Boston College will serve as both a repeat of the 2025 NCAA semifinals and a significant challenge for a revamped Northwestern roster. Furthermore, it represents NU’s sole chance to secure a victory against a top-five team where they are considered the stronger side. Positioned at No. 3 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse preseason rankings, BC is one of only two top-five ranked teams Northwestern is slated to face before the season starts, the other being the No. 1 ranked North Carolina. Given that the Golden Eagles have seen important players such as Rachel Clark and Emma LoPinto depart, potentially making them less formidable than in past seasons, the Wildcats should capitalize on this to achieve a crucial win for their record.
Nearly every opponent on Northwestern’s non-conference lineup is a team they competed against in the previous season, with the singular exceptions being Army and Stony Brook. The Wildcats’ last contest against Stony Brook was in 2023, where they triumphed 13-8 over a Seawolves squad then ranked fourth nationally. Conversely, on Valentine’s Day, Northwestern and Army will meet on the field for the very first occasion. Both the Seawolves and the Black Knights are recognized as formidable mid-major programs within the sport, having both participated in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
On March 12, the Wildcats are scheduled to welcome Syracuse, currently holding the No. 11 spot in USA Lacrosse Magazine’s ratings. This match will be notable as it pits prominent NU transfer attacker Olivia Adamson against her previous squad. During Northwestern’s last encounter with Syracuse in Evanston in 2024, Adamson contributed six goals for the Orange.
Conference competition in the Big Ten commences just three days following the Syracuse game, with Northwestern taking on Ohio State in Evanston on March 15. However, a more critical series of fixtures awaits a week later, as the Wildcats embark on a spring break excursion – first to Oregon on March 21, followed by a showdown against the 2025 Tewaaraton Award recipient, Chloe Humphrey, and her North Carolina team. This game, set for March 25, is a reprise of the 2025 NCAA Championship final. The contest in Chapel Hill, marking the third consecutive spring break clash between NU and UNC, appears to be the sole game of the entire season where Northwestern is not projected as the victor. The Tar Heels are arguably the most formidable obstacle in the Wildcats’ pursuit of a national title on their home ground, making this forthcoming regular-season match a crucial developmental opportunity for Kelly Amonte Hiller’s team, regardless of the outcome.
The initial home game for Northwestern at Northwestern Medicine Field within Martin Stadium is scheduled for April 4, as the Wildcats present “Lacrosse Day in Chicago” and compete against Southern California. This occasion will feature a dual event, with the men’s lacrosse teams from Notre Dame and Richmond playing their match before the Wildcats take on the Trojans. The Fighting Irish secured the NCAA men’s championships in both 2023 and 2024, standing with Northwestern as one of the leading lacrosse programs located in the Midwest.
Following the record-breaking home attendance achieved at the “Lacrosse Night in Chicago” event in 2025, Northwestern’s plan for a doubleheader signals an ongoing dedication to staging major events that are promoted more extensively than standard regular-season contests.
Flanking the USC game are contests against formidable Big Ten rivals, such as Johns Hopkins, ranked No. 10 by USA Lacrosse Magazine, on March 29; Maryland, at No. 8, on April 9; and Michigan, holding the No. 13 spot, on April 18. Mirroring their 2024 schedule, the Wildcats will conclude their regular season play in Ann Arbor, the very location where they secured the Big Ten regular season championship two years earlier.
The match on April 15 versus Rutgers marks NU’s second and final regular-season home game at Martin Stadium, whereas the April 12 fixture at Penn State represents NU’s initial meeting with the revamped Nittany Lions, now led by former Syracuse head coach Kayla Treanor – a potential upset risk given PSU previously surprised Northwestern when the ‘Cats last competed in Happy Valley.
A key factor to monitor is the potential influence of Big Ten competition on Northwestern’s schedule strength. Following the NCAA’s decision last autumn to refuse Northwestern field hockey a chance to host a postseason regional, mainly due to the Big Ten’s perceived inferiority compared to the Ivy League and ACC, a similar conference imbalance might emerge in women’s lacrosse.
Excluding Northwestern, the Ivy League demonstrated superior performance over the Big Ten in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, advancing three teams to the Elite Eight while the B1G had no teams beyond Northwestern reach that stage. Significantly, Princeton and Penn knocked out Big Ten teams, specifically Hopkins and Maryland, to secure their spots in the quarterfinals. Although the Big Ten still boasts a greater number of NCAA Tournament hopefuls in women’s lacrosse than in field hockey, should it fall to the third-ranked conference nationally, NU’s success outside of conference play—particularly against the other two top-three national teams—will gain heightened importance.
Nevertheless, Northwestern once more approaches the 2026 season as a formidable contender for the national championship. This status remains constant, irrespective of their opponents.
Key Northwestern lacrosse fixtures for your schedule:
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February 6: Inaugural game @ Second-ranked Boston College (4 PM CST)
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March 12: facing Eleventh-ranked Syracuse (Time To Be Announced)
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March 15: Big Ten inaugural game versus Ohio State (Time To Be Announced)
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March 25: @ First-ranked North Carolina (Time To Be Announced)
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April 4: Chicago Lacrosse Day dual-event against USC (2 PM CST)
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April 15: versus Rutgers at Martin Stadium (Time To Be Announced)
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April 18: Concluding regular season match @ Thirteenth-ranked Michigan (Time To Be Announced)
